


I'll give you my heart

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Dave also makes a weirdly sentimental gift for Karkat because he's a big softy really, Dave gets everyone under the mistletoe, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Gift Giving, M/M, Mistletoe, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, also these boys are terrible at dealing with their crushes, the trolls get to experience christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:28:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21810406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: The humans throw a party for the first Christmas on the meteor, and Dave gets his hands on some mistletoe. But it's all part of a bigger plan, and he's got a couple of surprises for Karkat up his sleeve.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam (mentioned)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	I'll give you my heart

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and you’re pretty sure you hate Christmas.

When the humans (it was mostly Rose) brought up their annual holiday called ‘Christmas’, the other trolls were instantly excited about it and were eager to help plan a party to celebrate the day. Kanaya declared that she thought it would be a good way to learn more about human culture, but really you think she just wanted to make Rose happy, and she spent the few days before Christmas hidden away in her respitblock creating presents for everyone and decorations for the party. You instantly decided it was a stupid idea, and had no interest in the human holiday. Why would you bother celebrating when all of you are stuck on this rock hurtling towards certain doom? Even so, Kanaya forced you to meet everyone else in the common room on Christmas morning, and since then you’ve been suffering through everyone’s terrible attempt at ‘festive joy’.

It’s late in the afternoon at this point, and you’ve suffered through a multiple of terrible events, including: Strider making breakfast and everyone trying to fit into the tiny kitchen to eat it together, Rose and Kanaya forcing everyone to play some terrible human party games, and Vriska and Terezi knocking over the Christmas tree a total of seven times.

But now you’ve all eaten the best Christmas dinner that could be alchemised on the meteor and swapped tiny little presents you all made for each other (Terezi gave every single person a stick of red chalk, which was sweet really; she usually keeps that colour to herself. Dave said he'd give you yours later, but you reckon he just hasn't got you anything), and now you’re all sat in the common room watching Christmas movies, chatting, and singing along badly to Christmas songs. And maybe it’s not quite so bad, you suppose. Or, at least, it wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for Strider.

Because Dave Strider has decided that, in the spirit of Christmas, he is going to kiss everyone. And by everyone, you mean everyone.

He’s walking around with some plant called mistletoe, and apparently the rules of the game is that if he puts it over someone’s head, they have to kiss him. And what you really can’t believe is that everyone else is just going along with it. He got Terezi first, early in the morning, and you were unfortunate enough to witness the entire disturbing display. Someone definitely needs to tell Terezi that she doesn’t need to lick people’s whole face when she kisses them. Strider got Kanaya next (she pulled herself away from Rose for long enough to give him a small kiss), and then Rose (who only kissed him on the cheek because ‘that’s some sort of ecto-incest’ according to Strider). Then Vriska was dragged into it a while later, and grinned at you wickedly after leaving blue lipstick smudged across his face. In fact, so far, you’re the only one who’s managed to not get caught underneath Strider’s mistletoe, and you plan to keep it that way.

It’s not that you don’t want to kiss Strider. In fact, you want it just a little too much, probably. But there’s no way you’re going to kiss him today, because that’s just going to complicate this stupid crush of yours even more, and you really don’t want to add that to the list of things you’re having to deal with today.

After several terrible human movies, though, you’re a little bored, and completely uncomfortable in the position you’ve ended up in. Kanaya and Rose have taken up practically the entire sofa, with Dave crushed up in the small space beside them, leaving you, Vriska and Terezi squashed on the floor in a pile of blankets and pillows in front of the sofa. You’re painfully aware of how close your head is to Dave’s legs, and eventually you pull yourself away from the pile of people, throwing aside Terezi who’s half-asleep against your sofa, and then abscond away to the kitchen.

There are still piles of snacks and several bottles of drink abandoned on the kitchen sides, and you pour yourself a glass of lemonade. It’s a little quieter in the kitchen, away from the overlapping sounds of movies, music and Kanaya and Rose’s makeout sessions that should definitely be kept to the privacy of their rooms. You let out a small sigh of relief, taking a sip of your cold drink, and then lean heavily against the counter. You’re tired and slightly irritated after a long day, and want nothing more than to hide away in your own room and read your romance novels until you finally fall asleep. You’re just considering how to sneak away when someone clears their throat behind you, and you instantly know who it is just from that one sound.

“What do you want, Strider?” You huff softly, sliding your half-empty glass onto the side and keeping your back to him. He says nothing, but you hear a few soft footsteps as he approaches. Then there are suddenly hands on your shoulders, and you let out a small squeak of surprise as he spins you to face him.

“Strider what the f-?” You snap, cutting your own exclamation off as you find yourself with his face far too close to yours.

But, before you can get away from him, he leans in close and whispers in a low voice, “Got you.”

You’re confused until you look up very slightly and let out a despairing groan at the sight you’re greeted by. He’s taped the damn plant to his forehead.

“Fuck off, Strider,” you huff, trying to wriggle out of his grip.

“Duuuude,” he whines, “Please? It’s human culture! Don’t be such a grump. Just one?” He’s whining like an actual wiggler, and you’re sure if he wasn’t wearing his obnoxious shades then he’d probably be batting his eyelashes at you like an idiot.

You know you’re not going to get out of this one without making yourself look odd, and really… well the thought of kissing him is a little appealing, you suppose. As long as you don’t let yourself get too carried away, maybe it’ll be nice. It’s the most you’re ever going to get from him, after all, and you deserve this, you suppose.

“Fine,” you huff, “But just one, and we’re never fucking talking about this again. And don’t go expecting this shit from me.”

He laughs loudly, throwing his head back so that his shades slip out of place slightly. Then he brings his head back down to look at you, and smirks faintly. You’re sure you’re blushing already, and duck your head slightly, though you still see the way his tongue darts out to lick his lips very quickly.

You’re aware of Dave leaning in towards you, and you take a deep breath before lifting your chin upwards towards him. As he leans in further, too close for you to be able to focus on his face properly anymore, you let your eyes close slowly. For a second you feel his breath ghosting across your face, and then his lips very gently touch to yours. You can’t help drawing in a soft gasp, and by the time you’ve really gotten used to the whole kissing thing Dave’s starting to pull away. Against your better judgement, you reach up one hand to the back of his head and pull him back towards you. This time it’s Dave who gasps, and you both love and hate the way your insides clench at the sound. His lips are moving properly against yours now as he deepens the kiss with a passion that makes you feel just a glimmer of hope that maybe he feels the same way you do. He pushes you away after a while though, and you feel further away from him than you ever have before. When you open your eyes he’s smiling at you, though, and there’s a tenderness visible on his face even with his shades obscuring his eyes.

“So um,” Dave clears his throat quickly, his cheeks flushed bright red in a way that’s unnecessarily attractive to you, looking down and fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. “You said not to expect this stuff from you but… could we…?”

“Could we what? Use your words, Strider,” you make an attempt at a joke, despite how flustered you are and how fast your heart is racing right now.

“Could we do that again sometime?” He asks slowly. You can barely believe what he’s saying, and it takes you a second to even think about trying to reply to him.

“I, uh… yeah,” you say, nodding almost desperately, “I’d really really like that.” You don’t even feel embarrassed by how desperate you sound. You’re too caught up in the moment to care.

He grins warily and lets out a sigh of relief. His arms are still loosely looped around your waist, and he pulls you in closer to hug you tightly, tucking your head under his chin. You fit so well into his arms, and relax against his chest after a second.

“Fucking finally,” he sighs after a second, “I’ve been trying to do that all day. Can’t believe I had to kiss everyone else just to make it look normal when I kissed you.”

“What?” You snap, lifting your head so quickly you almost knock your head into his chin, “Was this whole thing a plan just to kiss me?”

“Will you think I’m weird if I say yes?” He asks slowly.

“I’ll think you’re an idiot who needs to learn to talk about emotions properly,” you laugh softly, “But also I think I find that quite romantic.”

He smiles again, and leans in a little more closely, forehead bumping against yours gently. “So, what do you say we ditch this party?” He murmurs. His voice is low and deep, and makes you shiver very slightly as it rumbles in your ear, but you manage to not make a big deal of it.

“I was going to anyway,” you say gently.

“Got plans?” He asks.

“I was just going to go and read for a while,” you admit awkwardly, “Today’s been busy and I need some time to just…”

“Be alone?” He guesses.

You look up slowly. “No,” you say, “I think maybe there’s a place for you in my relaxing evening. If… if you want to come that is.”

He grins and reaches down to grab onto one of your hands, lacing his fingers with yours. “Sounds great,” he says softly, “Now let’s get out of here before any of the nosy girls on this rock come looking for us.”

You let out a giggle that’s completely out of character for you, and then the two of you rush away down the darkened hallways of the meteor. Your room isn’t too far away, tucked at the end of a small corridor that no one really ever goes down, and you let him into the room before making sure the door is locked behind the two of you. You don’t want anyone else barging in.

“Nice room,” Dave says, looking around, and you realise then that even after months of him being a close friend of yours, he’s never been in your room before. You glance around at the few faded movie posters here and there, the old sickles of yours that are mounted on the wall above your bed (you’ve been using a human bed since you ran out of sopor for your recuperacoon a while ago), and the pile of assorted soft things and movies on the floor.

“Thanks,” you mutter, and then sit down awkwardly on the edge of the bed.

“You alright?” He asks, sounding just as awkward as you do.

“I just… wasn’t expecting this today,” you laugh heavily, and take a deep breath, “I’d sort of accepted that you’d never feel for me the things I do about you, and now it just… feels like I’m dreaming.”

Dave chuckles very softly. “Not dreaming, Kat,” he says gently, and leans down to gently lay a hand against the side of your face, slowly sweeping his thumb across your cheek. “I promise you’re not dreaming,” he whispers, “I’ve been wanting this for a long time it just… took me a while to get over some human stuff.”

“That human sexuality stuff you told me about?” You ask, and he nods silently. “Well, I’ve had my own troll shit to get past,” you sigh, “I kinda… can’t quite put you into just one quadrant.”

He smiles. “Wanna break out of society’s ideals together?” He smirks, leaning down towards you again.

You nod almost desperately, and then reach up to slide his shades away from his face. You’ve seen his eyes before, but he still flinches a little when his eyes are revealed. You stare at them for a second, remembering that night the two of you watched movies together for the first time and he panicked when you two woke up tangled together and neither of you could find his shades for a while.

“What?” His voice is quiet, and a little weak.

“You’re cute,” you tell him softly.

He blushes again, then shakes his head quickly. “If anyone’s cute, it’s you,” he says, and proceeds to tap the end of your nose with one finger whilst declaring, “boop.” You scrunch your nose up, and he grins. “Told you you were cute,” he says, then leans down to quickly kiss you. The action takes you by surprise, and you think he surprises himself too, but you don’t let him get far away from you, pulling him down to the bed until he’s practically perched in your lap. His lips are chapped but warm and soft against yours, and you let yourself appreciate the feeling as he takes most of the control of the kiss. His chest is pulled flush against yours, and when you start to purr uncontrollably after a few moments you know he can feel how it vibrates through both of your bodies.

When the two of you eventually pull away from each other, you’re both out of breath and blushing furiously, and you laugh breathlessly. Now you’re really feeling your exhaustion though, and you prove this with a small yawn. Dave smiles faintly at the sight.

“Sleep if you want to,” he says quietly, shuffling from your lap to sit more comfortably on your bed, “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Doesn’t work like that,” you huff, “I can never just fall asleep, I don’t know why. I just find it hard to sleep.”

“Yeah, me too, sometimes, insomnia’s a bitch, huh?” He says.

“Insomnia?” You’ve never heard the word before.

“Yeah, like where you can’t sleep.”

“Oh, didn’t know there was a word for it.” You shrug, and then crawl over to sit by his side so you can both lean back against the small pile of pillows at one end of the bed. “I normally just uh… sit and read until I pass out.”

He smiles, and holds his arms out so you can tuck yourself up close to his side. “Wanna just chill until we both fall asleep?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The two of you cuddle up close together, and when you rest your head on his shoulder he leans his own head against yours. He holds one of your hands in his, rubbing his thumb in small circles over your knuckles, and the action’s calming enough for you to slowly start feeling a little sleepier. You’re pulled from your sleepy trance by Dave suddenly sitting up a little straighter, though, and he looks towards you, seeming weirdly excited.

“What?” You ask quietly, and he grins excitedly at you.

“Never got to give you my present!” He says, and then puts a hand into his pocket and digs around for a second. The item he pulls out is bigger than should be possible to fit in his pocket, but that must just be another power of his magical pyjamas.

“What is this?” You asks slowly, taking the present and slowly starting to tear the cheerfully patterned wrapping paper away. He just smirks and silently waits for you to open it. The object is soft and squishy, and eventually you can see that it’s bright white as well. You pull it away from the paper slowly, and turn it over in your hands slowly.

“I didn’t know if you’d like it,” he says slowly as you stare at it, completely lost for words, “I know I don’t know much about your childhood and troll culture and stuff, but I know… well Kanaya told me some stuff and helped me with a lot of the alchemising and…”

“Dave, it’s amazing,” you whisper, and he shuts up at that. He’s given you a plush version of your lusus. Though you didn’t always get along with your lusus, you’ve missed him since reaching the meteor, missed his guidance and reassurance. Kanaya knows this, and you tell yourself you need to thank her for her part in this too later.

“Squeeze his claw,” Dave says gently, and you do what you’re told, finding a small object within the plush claw and pressing down on it. A soft, quiet tune begins to play.

“Did you make this?” You ask quietly, and Dave nods silently. You keep listening, and a second later a track of small clicks, chirps and trills starts to play over the music. It’s Alternian. And you know the voice is Kanaya’s. The mix of Dave’s music and the sound of small, comforting things being whispered in your own language makes you feel something you can’t quite explain, and you feel your eyes fill with tears.

“Aww, Kat,” Dave murmurs quietly, pulling you close to his chest and running a hand up and down your back gently, “Sorry, it was meant to be a happy memory but I guess…”

“No, no, it’s…” you say quietly, and then cuddle further against his side, “I love it.” The sounds playing from the plush have faded away, and you squeeze it’s claw again as the two of you sit there.

“Thought it might help you sleep,” he whispers, “Kanaya said these were sorta calming noises.”

“Yeah, they are,” you say, nodding against his chest and squeezing the plush more tightly. “Thank you, Dave, so much. I feel shitty for not getting you anything great.”

“It’s okay,” he says with a smile, “I just wanted to treat you today, because I know you feel a bit underappreciated around here sometimes. And I suppose you can probably tell by now that I like you quite a lot.”

You still don’t quite believe it when you hear him say that, but you let yourself relish his words and squeeze his hand with your spare hand. 

“And anyway,” he says softly, “You gave me a good enough present just by not hating me for kissing you.”

“I’d never hate you, not really,” you say softly. You yawn again then, and feel him loop his arms around your waist and hold you tightly. The two of you end up rolling over to lay down properly together, and he uses one hand to pull a blanket up over the both of you. Dave seems to be getting tired as well, and he reaches up to tuck the lusus plush between the two of you. He turns the lamp by the side of your bed off, and then you both lay there together in silence in the darkness for a long time.

“Hey, Karkat,” he whispers quietly, when both of you are almost asleep, “Merry Christmas.”

You smile faintly to yourself, and lean forwards to fumble for his face and press a clumsy kiss to his lips. “Merry Christmas,” you whisper back to him. When you roll over slightly, you squish the plush between you, and the soft, calming soundtrack fills the silent room again. You fall asleep to the sounds of Alternian, quiet music, and Dave murmuring tiredly as he too drifts asleep.

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and maybe you don’t hate Christmas as much as you thought you would.

**Author's Note:**

> This was planned to be posted this weekend but my mum decided to tell me today that she's taking me on holiday on Friday, so I've now got one day to pack and do my college classes at the same time, and my anxiety levels are skyrocketing. So here's this a little early to make sure I get it up before Christmas. Two fics in one day but this has been done for a few days now so I may as well post it.


End file.
